By Robin Bruno
Amazon employees and drivers seem to have some of the nicest, high demanding, and well paying jobs in the world. Who doesn’t want to be a delivery driver? You must get so many benefits and there are always positions open, right?
But, that is far from the truth. Amazon employees make anywhere from $17 to $25 dollars an hour, which isn’t horrible. Then you remember, they get little to no breaks with long hours and unrealistic delivery quotas.
“The working conditions facing Amazon’s last-mile drivers are defined by a frantic pace, low wages, and relentless pressure to meet tight delivery deadlines,” stated Jake Alimahomed-Wilson, who is a Cal State sociology professor.
The delivery drivers were often working with only two 15 minute breaks, and one 30 minute break throughout their 10 hour shifts. However, with the recent development of Amazon flex, drivers are given the ability to manage their own time. They get to decide when they take needed breaks for food or the restroom.
It’s different for employees, “Amazon uses a system of interconnected labor practices (…) to maximize the labor value it can extract and to minimize the responsibility it bears for their job quality,” claimed a senior researcher and political analyst Maya Pinto. As one of the largest online retailers, they have a high bar from their customers therefore they rely heavily on their employees to work as fast as they can.
Throughout the years, there have been many strikes against Amazon by workers fighting for better pay, less hours, and better working conditions.
In 2024, there was a strike against Amazon, “For months leading up to the strike, the Teamsters union had been pressing Amazon to recognize and negotiate with organized workers,” stated an analyst who works with RSS inc. They help with temporary staffing and workforce solutions. The public supported the employees throughout the strike as well as some U.S. senators and local officials.
As of present day, Amazon employees still face some of the same problems they have been fighting to fix.
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